


Humanity

by milanthruil



Series: Humanity [1]
Category: CSI: Miami, NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover Pairings, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-24
Updated: 2009-11-24
Packaged: 2017-10-27 14:25:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/296809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milanthruil/pseuds/milanthruil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gibbs’ team has to travel to Miami for a case when someone starts killing people with connections to both teams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own them. *is sad* Thanks to [](http://spoonyriffic.livejournal.com/profile)[**spoonyriffic**](http://spoonyriffic.livejournal.com/) for the beta! I <3 yous! :D Also, thanks to [](http://obvious-wing.livejournal.com/profile)[**obvious_wing**](http://obvious-wing.livejournal.com/) for the AMAZING artwork! I <3 you too! :D

Gibbs glared up at his senior agent as McGee was pelted with yet another ball of wadded-up paper. There was a pile paper projectiles amassing around the younger agent’s desk. Tony felt Gibbs’ stare boring into his head even before he heard the ‘DiNozzo!’ that rang through the squad room. He winced and mentally prepared his best ‘who me?’ face only to be met with Gibbs’ steely gaze when he looked up. Staring into those eyes, his felt resolve begin to crumble until-

“I’d say ‘I won’t let it happen again,’ but we both know that would be a lie.” Tony broke with a sigh. “How about ‘I’ll try very hard not to throw things at Probie for at least the rest of the week’?” Tony continued to be met with Gibbs’ stare. “Going back to work, Boss.” He turned to his computer and stopped midway. “Oh, wait, there is no work.” He groused and scrunched up his face in response to McGee’s smug look. It wasn’t often the team wished for a case, but if it got Tony to stop pelting them with paper, they were wishing for one.

Gibbs’ desk phone rang and he answered it with a brief ‘yeah Gibbs’ before listening to the other person. “Grab your gear.” He instructed, after hanging up, as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the elevator. Tony, McGee and Ziva promptly followed, hurrying to beat the elevator doors.

-

They found the young Marine stabbed to death in his apartment, blood on the kitchen floor. McGee winced at the sight. Even after all the scenes he’d been to, blood still made him nervous. He snapped a few photos as Ducky finished up and sighed to himself. This man wasn’t much younger than himself.

“Wait a sec, Ducky.” Tony pointed to the dead man’s wrist. There was a slightly bony-looking spike peeking out of the skin. “What is _that_?” Tony asked. Ducky lifted the man’s arm and gently prodded at the protrusion. It shot out of the man’s wrist with a _snick_ and embedded itself in the wall just past Gibbs’ head causing everyone but Gibbs to jump.

“Oh!” Ducky exclaimed, a little shaken as a second spike slid into position.

“You okay, Je- Gibbs?” Tony asked, almost slipping up in his concern that the spike might have impaled their intrepid leader.

“Do I look _dead_ to you, _DiNozzo_?” Gibbs asked dryly.

Tony looked Gibbs over and conceded that he did not, in fact, look dead. “No, Boss.”

“Then I’m fine.” Gibbs pulled the spike out of the wall with his gloved hand and handed it to Ziva to be bagged.

“This certainly brings a new light to the investigation.” Ducky stated, excitement written in his eyes.

-

“What is going _on_ here, Gibbs?” Abby demanded as she paced the floor of her lab, Caf!Pow in hand.

“What’s going on _where_ , Abs?” Gibbs asked, his thumb sliding over the printed logo on his paper coffee cup a few times.

“Gibbs!” Abby stopped and shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. “You were almost skewered by a bone spike!” She flailed her free hand. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“Not anymore than getting shot at, Abs.” Gibbs sipped his coffee.

“How can you be so calm about this? If I’d had a bone spike shot at my head I’d be totally freaking out!” Abby began bouncing nervously, gradually gaining speed.

“Careful there, Abs. You might rocket around the room if you keep that up.”

Abby’s eyes widened suddenly. “Who told you about that?!” She asked frantically, taking a nervous sip of the caffeinated beverage.

“Told me about what?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Nothing, Bossman.” Abby promptly turned to her computer. “Just joking around.”

“Well, maybe you should spend more time working.” Gibbs smirked and left the lab, heading for the elevators.

-

Disgusting pigs, the lot of them. Going about their pitiful lives as if nothing was wrong. Like they weren’t _diseased_.

The photos in their respective manila file folders stared up from their glossy cages. Piercing grey eyes peered back at them in revulsion from behind coke bottle glasses.

What are they thinking, going out into the unsuspecting public where they will breed and contaminate the future generations. They think they’re offering protection. That they’re doing what’s right. Defending home and country. They’re wrong.

The eyes fixed their gaze on the nearby desk mirror. They glowered at their reflection. At the face of the body that held them captive. How could such a normal-looking being be cursed with such a horrific and _damnable condition_.

But that was part of what was so infuriating about the whole problem. The normalcy. The ones that looked different at least seemed to grasp the seriousness and danger they were cursed with. Of what could happen from mingling with the rest of humanity. It was the others, the ‘normal’ ones – who didn’t seem to realize the threat they posed.

It’s only a matter of time before one of them does something outrageously stupid. They must be stopped.

-

“He’s a _mutant_?” Tony asked Ducky who had called them all down to Autopsy. “What, like the ‘X-Men’?” He noted Gibbs’ lack of expression. “Movies, Boss. You know. Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops?” He sighed. “Hugh Jackman?”

“Hugh Jackman is a mutant?” Ziva asked, confusion written on her face.

“No.” McGee glared at Tony. Like it was _his_ fault. Sheesh. “Hugh Jackman is _not_ a mutant. And they were comic books first.” McGee clarified.

“Okay…” Gibbs stared at his team. “Mutants, Duck?”

“Yes, well,” Ducky lifted the dead man’s arm and everyone braced themselves to dodge a spike that never came. “That bony protrusion that nearly hit you, Jethro, is caused by a genetic mutation which grants the organism special abilities.” Ducky began talking with his hands, forgetting that one of his hands was still holding onto the deceased’s wrist. “I remember, several times in my youth, I came across certain gifted individuals.” He shot a quick glance at Gibbs as a nostalgic smile made its way on his face. “Yes… I once knew a man with wings.”

“Like Dracula?”

“No,” Ducky smiled conspiratorially, knowing he was just adding fuel to Tony’s fire, “more like bird wings than bat wings, Tony.”

“Do you think his parents knew, Duck?” Gibbs asked.

“About his wings? I’d say it was pretty likely,” Ducky replied.

“I meant our Marine, Duck.” Gibbs corrected, his last nerve ready to break. “Couldn’t have been easy to hide bone spikes.”

“No, I suppose not.” Ducky sighed and then looked up at Gibbs. “Though one would be surprised at how many people are hiding things.”

“How do you know so much about mutants, Ducky?” Gibbs’ eyes bored into Ducky’s.

“Well, Jethro,” Ducky stated, compelled to answer under the weight of Gibbs’ stare. “Because I am one.” The team blinked at him. “I talk to the dead.”

“Well we already knew _that_ , Ducky.” Tony laughed nervously.

“No, dear boy.” Ducky touched the deceased’s temple. “I mean,” he explained as the corpse opened his eyes. “I _talk_ to the _dead_.”

“What’s going on?” The Marine asked as awareness flooded back into his body. “Where am I?”

“Can you tell us your name, Marine?” Ducky asked.

“Jackson.” The Marine sat up, the white sheet sliding down his naked torso and exposing his closed y-incision as he looked at his surroundings. “I’m dead, aren’t I.” He sighed.

“You are. Mr. Jackson, can you tell us what happened to you? Who killed you?” Gibbs demanded, glancing warily at the stitched incision on the dead – well… previously dead – man’s chest.

“I’m not Mr. Jackson.” The Marine frowned.

“But you just told us-” Tony let his confusion show plain as day on his face.

“Jackson’s my first name,” The Marine explained. “Jackson Lloyd.”

“Do you know who killed you?” Gibbs asked.

“No, sorry.” Lloyd shrugged. “Never saw him.”

“But you were facing him when he stabbed you.” Tony rubbed at his forehead. His brain was beginning to hurt.

“Unless the attacker was invisible,” Ziva pointed out. Everyone turned to her, waiting for an explanation. Ziva sighed. “Ducky and Mr. Lloyd are not the only ones with ‘abilities’.” She confessed under Gibbs’ stare. “My knife skills are not only from my Mossad training.” The team blinked as she disappeared and reappeared a few feet away. “And invisibility is a plausible reason for why he did not see his attacker.”

“Anyone _else_ got any ‘ _abilities_ ’ they want to tell me about?” Gibbs growled. The rest of the team sheepishly raised their hands. “Oh really?” Gibbs quirked an eyebrow.

“Can I ask a question?” Lloyd asked, shifting uncomfortably on the cold, metal autopsy table.

“Depends.” Gibbs stared at the man who had been dead just a few moments ago.

“On what, sir?” Lloyd squinted, synapses still not firing at full speed. It wasn’t easy on a guy to come back from the dead.

“On the _question_ , Marine.” Gibbs sighed. He was never going to work with the previously dead ever again.

“Oh. Right. Um… how’d you know about my, uh, ‘uniqueness’?”

“We had a run-in with one of your bone spikes.” Gibbs explained, pointing to Lloyd’s wrist.

“Nearly impaled our boss’ brain.” Tony expanded, wrinkling his nose.

“Not his fault, DiNozzo.” Gibbs sighed. “Man was dead.”

“Right, Boss.” Tony mentally gave himself a headslap.

“Um, if you don’t need me anymore...” Lloyd ventured.

“Ah, yes!” Ducky turned to the man and helped him to lie back down on the table. “Sorry about that, my dear fellow.” Ducky touched the man’s temple again to let the Marine go back to being dead.

“So what all can the rest of you do?” Gibbs asked, turning his gaze to McGee. “McGee?”

“Well, I… er…”

“Spit it out, McGee.” Gibbs barked.

“Icontroltechnology!” McGee blurted out.

Tony scrunched up his face. “What?”

McGee took a deep breath. “I control technology.”

“Well, _yeah_ , McGee. That’s why we hired you,” Gibbs replied dryly.

“No, Boss.” McGee shook his head. “I meant that I can actually control technology.” He closed his eyes and a few seconds later the entire team’s cell phones began ringing.

“Coincidence.” Tony blew it off, checking the display on his phone. Written in pixilated letters was ‘McGee.’ “How-?”

“I told you. I control technology.” McGee opened his eyes, the phones falling silent.

“What about you, Tony?” Ziva asked. “You raised _your_ hand, too.”

“I, uh… I’m an Empath. I can feel people’s emotions from up to fifty yards away.”

“Then why do you tease us all the time?” McGee frowned.

“Because if I didn’t tease anybody every so often, you’d all think I was weird or something.” Tony looked at them all. “But haven’t you noticed that I never push too far?” McGee nodded.

“We think you’re weird anyway, DiNozzo.” Gibbs rolled eyes. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, um…” Tony blinked and his nose changed shape a little to slightly resemble Gibbs’. “I can also morph my features.” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Good for undercover work… in more ways than one.” He wasn’t entirely surprised when he received a headslap from Gibbs. “What?” He shrugged as his nose returned to normal. “You asked.”

“So that’s why you always get the undercover jobs.” McGee frowned, a little put out.

“You get all the computer-y… things…” Tony countered.

McGee mulled this over for a few seconds. “Point taken.”

“Guys! Guys!” Abby ran into Autopsy, door whooshing before and after her. “Did you hear?” She asked excitedly. “Our dead Marine is a mutant!” She smiled, expecting more than the stares she received. “Um… this is when Tony would say something like ‘what, like the X-Men?’ and Gibbs would say ‘There’s no such thing as mutants-’” She imitated Tony’s and Gibbs’ voices respectively.

“We already know, Abs.” Gibbs silenced her by placing an index finger over her lips.

Abby spun around to glare at Ducky. “You already told them?”

“I’m sorry, Abby.” Ducky sighed. “It just sort of… slipped out, I’m afraid.”

“Gibbs gave him ‘The Stare’.” Tony whispered in lieu of an explanation.

“Oh.” Abby nodded. “Gibbs is magic.”

“No.” Gibbs smiled a little. “Not magic.” He gestured at the Marine on the autopsy table. “Not anymore than him.”

“You mean…” Tony eyed Gibbs warily. “You’re a mutant, too?”

“Well, yeah, DiNozzo.” Gibbs sipped his coffee. “How else do you think I get people to tell the truth just by staring at ‘em?”

“By being completely badass? Boss?” Tony shifted uncomfortably.

“Hypnovision!” Abby squealed. “Gibbs!” She smacked him on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Didn’t think I had to, Abs.” Gibbs headed for the elevator. “Come on, people! Work to do!” he barked.

Tony followed behind him. “So, Boss… remember that time when we were in your basement and I was flirting a bit… okay, a lot… and you asked if I wanted to sleep with you?” Tony whispered hastily. “Were you using your powers? Or…” His voice trailed off.

Gibbs took a deep breath before whispering back. “Did you _want_ to answer? Just on your own?”

Tony nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“Then I wasn’t using my powers. I don’t use my powers for questions like that, Tony… why, you regret it?” He asked, pointedly _not_ looking at Tony so the other man would know he wasn’t using his power.

“No.” Tony scratched at his head, feeling the calm and steadying emotions radiating off his off-and-on lover. “Just curious.”

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow at Tony, but he said nothing as the rest of the team caught up to them. “Nice of you to join us.” He stepped into the elevator, team following, and pushed the button for their floor. “We got a cover-up op, people. Can’t have the world knowing mutants really exist.”

“Got it, Boss.” Tony replied, catching the smirk on Gibbs’ face.

-

Tony paused and took notice of the entryway that belonged to Jackson Lloyd’s parents. Family photos lined the walls, and though there were plenty of the rest of the family, not one of the black frames held a picture of Jackson. There wasn’t a photo of him in his Marine uniform _or_ at his high school graduation. Not even an embarrassing baby picture. It was like Jackson never existed. Tony frowned.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd.” Gibbs began as he pulled his pen and little notepad out of his blazer pocket.

“Please, it’s Quinn and Janet.” Mrs. Lloyd interrupted.

Gibbs’ gut was starting to vie for his attention. “I know this is hard, but did Jackson have any enemies that you know of?”

“You mean other than _everybody_?” Mr. Lloyd’s lip curled.

“Oh?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow casually.

“What?” Mrs. Lloyd scoffed. “You’re telling us that you don’t know about his _disease_?”

Tony blinked. He knew from an early age, without ever having to see their faces, that every time his parents looked at him that they hated him with every fiber of their souls. This was fine with him, he’d tell himself. Any parent that hated their child that much wasn’t worth the child’s time. However, a part of him wished that it had been different. That they would have changed their minds about him. Or that they had never hated him in the first place.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs barked as he snapped his fingers in front of Tony’s face. “You still with us?”

“Yeah, Boss.” Tony shook his head to bring himself back to the here and now before turning to Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd. “I noticed none of your pictures include your son.”

Mrs. Lloyd looked at Tony as if he was stupid. “Of course we have pictures of Cameron.”

“He meant your _other_ son, Mrs. Lloyd.” Gibbs stared at the two Lloyds seated on the settee. “You didn’t like Jackson much, did you?” Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd blinked at each other. “Answer the question.” Gibbs demanded through clenched teeth.

“Of course not!” Mr. Lloyd threw his hands up in exasperation. “Could _you_ have loved someone like- like _that_?”

“Jackson Lloyd was a decorated United States Marine.” Gibbs’ self-restraint with these people was wearing thin. “I would have been proud to call him my son.” The intensity of Gibbs’ anger threatened to completely overwhelm Tony to the point of sending stars across his field of vision.

“You don’t have kids, do you, Agent Gibbs?” Mr. Lloyd spat with an admonishing glare.

“No.” Gibbs snapped his notepad closed and shoved both it and his pen back into their pocket. He brushed past Tony and out the door. “DiNozzo! With me!” He called over his shoulder.

“He gets a little touchy with people who are hypocritical about their kids and stuff.” Tony explained evenly, trying to hold back the fact that he wanted to punch these people. “You’ll understand if he took that question a _little personally_.” Tony turned on his heel and followed Gibbs out to the car. “On your six, Boss!”

-

Cameron Russell answered his cell phone with a terse ‘what’ before putting the television on mute.

“Cam.” The familiar female voice wafted through the phone.

Cameron rolled his eyes. “ _Yeah_.” He drew out as if who the woman was talking to was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Don’t be an ass.” The voice snipped at him.

“What do you want, Carter?” Cameron sighed.

“Some Navy cops came to talk to me today.”

Cameron scoffed to try and distract the disquiet that had started niggling at the base of his neck. “What could they possibly have to say to you?”

“They wanted to know about Jackson.”

Cameron shifted on the couch. “What about him?”

“Someone _killed_ him, Cam!” Carter snapped.

“Yeah? And?” Cameron rolled his eyes and reached for the remote again.

“He was my _brother_ , Cam. _Our_ brother. And now he’s _gone_.” The female’s voice grew frantic. “You could at least _act_ like you care! God, you’re just like _them_!”

“I try to be.” Cameron bit at a rough edge on his thumbnail. “Just cause _you_ betrayed them, doesn’t mean that _I_ have to, Carter.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Cam!” Carter huffed. “I don’t even know why I bothered calling you, you ass!” she spat before the line disconnected.

“Nice talking to you, too.” Cam smarmed pleasantly to the dial tone before he tossed his phone next to him on the couch. “Bitch.” He muttered and turned the sound back on, on the TV. Just in time to hear the final clue on “Jeopardy!”

-

Horatio slipped his sunglasses off, and looked at deceased man sprawled in the entryway of the high-end Miami apartment. “Alexx, what do we have here?”

“This man was stabbed four times in the chest.” Alexx turned the man’s head to get a better look at a spot of blood on his temple. “I’ll know more after my post.” She pulled a wallet out of the man’s pants pocket. “Mark Warner.” She read off the name on the driver’s license before handing the wallet to Horatio.

“Thank you.” Horatio took the leather wallet and turned to the approaching team member as Alexx began prepping the body for transport. “Speed.” He smiled. “What’d you find?”

“Guy has security cameras all over.” Speed pointed to the one nearest the victim. “I’m just trying to find the room where he kept the guts of the system.” He glanced around at the rest of the apartment. “Might have caught the killer on camera.”

“Alright.” Horatio slipped his sunglasses back on. “You and Calleigh continue processing here and meet me back at the lab.”

“Yeah. You got it.”

-

Alexx had just finished prepping the victim’s body and was about to start her y-incision when she paused. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things, but she wasn’t. The victim’s skin had indeed started glowing and turning green. Alexx grabbed her cell phone off the counter and hit the speed dial.

“Yeah.” Horatio answered the phone with his usual greeting.

“Horatio.” Alexx spoke into her phone even as she peered at the dead man on her slab, her vision passing through the man’s flesh to his internal organs. “I’ve got something here that I think you should see.”

“What is it, Alexx?” Horatio furrowed his brow.

“I think you need to see it to believe it.” Alexx took a mental note to get physical x-rays of the man’s extra gland. “I hardly believe it myself.”

-

Horatio looked down at the glowing green man.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, Horatio, and I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my day.” Alexx indicated the man’s skin. “I was about to cut into Mr. Warner, when he started glowing and turning green.” She grabbed the x-rays off the counter. “When I x-rayed him, I found this.” She stuck the x-ray up on the light box and pointed to the anomaly.

“What is it I’m looking at, Alexx?” Horatio asked as he turned his attention to the x-ray.

“This man has an extra gland.” Alexx shook her head. “I have no explanation for it.” She paused. “Except that maybe it might be the reason his skin is green.”

“Alright.” Horatio shifted his stance. “Let’s keep this under the radar for now until we know for sure what’s going on.” Alexx nodded in agreement. “Let me know if you find anything else.” Horatio slipped his sunglasses on even though he was indoors. “I’m going to go see if Speed’s gotten anything off the security footage.”

“Tell him he needs to come see me.” Alexx crossed her arms. “He hasn’t been down here for a while.”

Horatio smiled. “Will do, Alexx.”

-

“Is this the security footage of the victim’s apartment?” Horatio asked as he walked into the A/V lab to find Speed watching something on the screen.

Speed nodded. “Yeah.” He scratched at an itch on his ear. “Yeah, this is it.”

“Alright. When does the attacker come in?” Horatio stood behind Speed.

“That’s the thing.” Speed looked over his shoulder at Horatio, a frown on his face. “He never does.”

“Have you tried another angle?”

“I’ve looked at the tapes front-ways, side-ways, back-ways, slant-ways and any other ‘ways’ I could think of. The attacker is never there.” Speed pointed to the screen, narrating the action. “He opens the door… stands there awhile, clearly confused…” Speed sighed. “He closes the door, turns around and then…” The man on the screen reacted to something hitting his chest four times before he fell to the ground.

“So, Speed…” Horatio blinked at the screen, “what does this mean?”

“Maybe the attacker is invisible?” Speed offered. Horatio raised an eyebrow and Speed shrugged. “It was either that or ghosts.” He deadpanned.

-

McGee looked up from his computer as Gibbs walked in. “Boss.” He called. “I got a hit on my search for similar cases. Naval Officer was stabbed four times… in the chest… no attacker on the security footage.”

“Maybe the attacker was out of frame, McGee.” Tony suggested sarcastically.

“I snuck a peek at the footage and watched all the angles, Tony.” McGee defended. “There was nowhere for the attacker to hide.” McGee looked over at Gibbs. “I even called them on my lunch break to ask the same question.” He shot a glare at Tony who had been parroting everything to himself in a ‘nyah, nyah, nyah’ tone. “They want a liaison from our offices to head down there and compare notes.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “Miami?” He stood and wandered over to Gibbs’ desk. “I should probably go, Boss. I mean, I’ve been to Miami before… know the area fairly well. I wouldn’t mind getting some. Sun.” Tony reasoned, barely catching his slip up.

“Yeah, you can go.” Gibbs smirked.

“Boss-” McGee tried to interrupt.

“With me and McGee.”

Tony frowned. This was going to make ‘Babe Watch’ considerably more difficult.

-

Gibbs stepped off the plane and was greeted by a sunglasses-clad redhead.

“Agent Gibbs, I presume?” The redhead asked as the two of them shook hands. “Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade PD. Welcome.” Tony’s eyes flicked between the two men.

“Agents DiNozzo and McGee.” Gibbs tipped his head to each in turn.

Speed waved from behind Horatio. “Tim Speedle.” The others nodded ‘hello.’ “You can call me ‘Speed.’” He smiled.

“Heard you have a dead Naval Officer.” Gibbs stated. “Stabbed four times in the chest?” He asked at Horatio’s affirmation.

“My team and I can give you a better briefing at the lab.” Horatio led them over to the department-issue Hummer. “Right this way, gentlemen.”

Tony blinked. “That thing is taller than _me_.” He frowned and tried to make himself look taller than his normal 6 foot 2. He was rewarded with a smack to the head. “Shutting up, Boss.” They all climbed into the Hummer, Speed in the middle of the back sandwiched between Tony and McGee, since he was the skinniest. “Cozy.” Tony grinned. McGee sighed as Horatio started the Hummer, and he decided that the view out his window was particularly fascinating. Tony’s knee brushed Speed’s and there was some awkward shuffling on Speed’s part. Gibbs rolled his eyes from the front seat as he and Horatio began comparing notes.

“You know what kind of knife the attacker used?” Horatio asked.

Gibbs consulted his notepad. “A serrated KA-BAR Fixed Blade Tanto according to the wound tracts.” Horatio drove through the streets of Miami as Gibbs answered his questions. Tony muttered ‘Luck Be a Lady’ under his breath. “DiNozzo!” Gibbs snapped after five minutes.

“Sorry, Boss.” Tony blushed and stared out his own window. The drive continued as Gibbs and Horatio compared notes and Tony had come to a conclusion. Well, two conclusions. First, Gibbs was not nearly as crazy a driver as Horatio. Even on one of Gibbs’ ‘bad’ days. Second, this ‘Speed’ guy was fidgety as Hell while trapped inside a moving vehicle. “What, not fast enough for ya, ‘ _Speed_ ’?” Tony whispered, leaning over slightly into Speed’s personal space.

“Nah, I just prefer my Ducati.” Speed replied with a quick glance at Tony. “I prefer open spaces.”

“Ducati.” Tony rolled the word around on his tongue. “That’s Italian, right?”

“DiNozzo?” Gibbs sighed, beginning to lose his patience with his Senior Agent.

“Just making conversation, Boss.” Tony responded with a wince. “Getting to know one of the people I’ll be working with.”

“Could you at least make conversation about the _case_?”

“Right, Boss.” Tony slumped in the seat a little.

Speed leaned closer and whispered in Tony’s ear. “So, ‘DiNozzo.’ That’s Italian, right?” He smirked at Tony’s grin.

“Sì.” Tony loved any chance to throw Italian into a conversation.

“Italians make good stuff, DiNozzo.” Speed grinned. Gibbs looked over at Horatio with an expression that clearly read ‘You, too?’ Horatio nodded with a smile.

-

McGee and Speed sat watching the security footage of the Miami victim’s apartment. McGee winced when the man on the screen reacted to the stabbing even though he’d seen the footage the day before.

Speed rested his chin in his hand. “So, McGee…” he flicked his gaze to the other man, “do you federal agent types have _first_ names?” He asked. “Or is that classified information?”

“Name’s Tim.” McGee began typing things on the keyboard.

“Good name.” Speed grinned. McGee smirked and continued typing. “What about your friend?”

“Friend?” McGee blinked. “You mean Tony?” He fiddled with something.

“Tony.” Speed contemplated the new information for a moment and looked back at the screen. “How did you-” He pointed at the attacker that was now visible on the screen.

“Oh, well I went into the filters and adjusted-”

“So, that’s who we’re looking for?” Speed interrupted.

McGee nodded and sent the image to the printer. “Yeah.”

“Gentlemen.” Horatio entered the A/V lab with Gibbs right behind him. “This our guy?” He picked in image out of printer tray. Gibbs peered over Horatio’s shoulder, surprisingly not in his normal vaguely threatening way.

“Yeah.” Speed smiled. “Gonna run it through facial recognition now.” He clicked the mouse a couple times. “Good agent you got here Agent Gibbs.”

“Yeah.” Gibbs took a sip of his coffee. “Good work, McGee.”

“Thanks, Boss.” McGee turned his attention back to the plasma screen and smiled to himself.

-

Another day, another body in the Everglades. Horatio sighed and peered out over the swampy water. The entire team was doubled up on cases because of the crime wave sweeping the county. Gibbs and his team pitched in by maintaining the joint investigation to keep it from going stagnant. Horatio watched as Delko surfaced, giving him a thumbs down and signaling that he was going back under. A splash to Horatio’s right gave him pause. Something or someone else had just entered the water.

“Eric!” Horatio waved his arms to call Delko back to land. “Get out of there!” Delko signaled that he understood and began swimming back toward Horatio. In the next instant he disappeared under the water.

“Eric!” A scuba tank floated to the surface. Delko was without a means of acquiring oxygen. Horatio cursed loudly and contacted dispatch. “Officer down!” He shouted as he scanned the water for signs of Delko. His phone rang a minute later. He had barely answered when he was greeted by a frantic Calleigh.

“Horatio!” Her voice was unsteady. “There were shots fired! They hit Speed!” Calleigh ran a hand through her hair. “He’s been taken to Miami-Dade ER, but it doesn’t look good.”

“You head over there, I’ve got a situation of my own.” It was far too long for Delko to have been under. “I think we lost Eric.” He explained even as he tugged off his suit jacket and made ready to hang up and rush to the rescue.

“What?” Calleigh demanded. Just when she thought her day couldn’t get any worse.

“He was pulled under the water several minutes ago and he hasn’t surfaced yet.” Horatio turned when he heard a splash and found Delko climbing out of the water. “Scratch that!” He hung up and rushed over to help. “Eric?” He pulled Delko out of the water and sat him down.

“Thanks.” Delko was shaking, but his breathing, though rushed, was still suspiciously calm for someone who’d nearly drowned.

“What happened down there?” Horatio asked.

“Something grabbed my ankle and pulled me under.” Delko looked up at Horatio. “I didn’t see anything. If I wasn’t- if I hadn’t-”

“Calm down, Eric. It’s okay.” Horatio rubbed Delko’s back.

“I’m fine, H.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. You just take it easy for the rest of the day.” Horatio stood and helped Delko over to the Hummer. “Speed was shot. I have to head over to the ER, should I just drop you off with Alexx? She’s probably there hounding the doctors.”

“What?” Delko stared at Horatio. “Hell, no. I’m going with you to see Speed.”

-

Horatio dialed Gibbs’ cell phone and waited.

“Yeah, Gibbs.” Gibbs answered on the fourth ring.

“Gibbs-” Horatio began before he was cut off.

“What the Hell is going on around here?” Gibbs yelled into his phone, causing Horatio to pull his own away from his ear. “McGee is in the hospital with a concussion!”

Horatio sighed and brought the phone back to his ear warily. “Your people, too?”

Gibbs frowned. “What do you mean ‘my people, too’?” He was met with silence. “Lieutenant...” He warned.

“Three of my people were attacked. Speed and Eric are in the hospital.”

“Why attack your people?” Gibbs asked, although the answer had already begun formulating in his head. Some crazy person was after mutants or people in law enforcement, and now their teams were in danger. “Any of your team experience anything off about their attacks?”

“Eric claims he didn’t see anything around him at all. Neither did I. There was a splash and then he was pulled under. When he surfaced, his breathing wasn’t quite right. He was gasping, but it seemed like it was more due to adrenaline than lack of oxygen.” Horatio pulled off his sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel the pressure building behind his eyes; a sign that if he didn’t de-stress soon, there would be a potentially damaging incident. “Eyewitnesses, including Speed, claim they saw bullets ricocheting off of Calleigh. Speed was shot twice in the stomach, but there’s hardly a scratch on him.” He paused. “What about your guys?” he asked, trying to suppress the headache that threatened to rear its ugly head.

Gibbs sipped his fourth coffee of the day. “All McGee remembers is he was coming out of a coffee shop, and then he says that’s when everything went black.”

“Something weird is going on, Gibbs.”

“Oh,” Gibbs smiled to himself, “you’d be surprised.” He chuckled before mentally adding: ‘I’ve seen weirder.’

-

“Hey.”Tony poked his head into Speed’s hospital room. “I was down the hall with McGee and heard you were here.” He plopped himself down in the chair by Speed’s bed. “You okay?”

Speed looked at Tony with an expression that a blind man could read as ‘you got to be kidding me.’ “I was shot. Twice. How do you _think_ I am?”

“Well you look good for someone who was just shot.” Tony grinned. He was on to something, if the mild agitation he felt rolling off of Speed was anything to go by. “When are they letting you out of here? You have anyone to look after you?”

“Tomorrow.” Speed shifted uneasily. “Not enough damage or something.”He shrugged a shoulder as if being in the hospital was no big deal. “I’ll be fine. Why? You offering?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard is happening your team, you guys might need some Federal protection.”

“You forgetting that one of _your_ guys is _also_ in the hospital?”

Tony waved a hand in dismissal. “Pff. Details.”

“Oh, yes.” Speed rolled his eyes. “I feel _so_ much safer already.”

“Yeah, well.” Tony shrugged. “If you need someone to keep an eye on you for a couple days… I wouldn’t decline.”

“Thanks.”

“So… can I see your scars?” Tony waggled his eyebrows.

Speed hit him with his extra pillow. “No!” He crossed his arms over his chest.

-

“There’s something strange going on with my team.” Horatio peered at Gibbs over the top of his sunglasses.

“Stranger than an invisible killer?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow as he studied the scalloped cardboard coaster of the little café he and Horatio had found a few blocks from the lab.

Horatio sighed. “The hospital called me a few minutes ago. Speed’s made a full recovery.”

Gibbs blinked and leveled his gaze at Horatio. “That was quick.”

“There’s not a mark on him.” Horatio rubbed at the spot between his eyes. “I don’t know how to explain it, Gibbs. He went in with two gunshot wounds and just 4 hours later, nothing.” He pulled off his sunglasses and folded and unfolded them a few times before setting them on the table where they proceeded to stare unblinkingly at Gibbs like another set of eyes.

“Oh.” Gibbs brought his attention away from the coaster. “I may have an idea.”

Horatio raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“What do you know about mutants?” Gibbs asked, looking Horatio straight in the eye.

“More than you’d think.” Horatio spoke before he realized what he was saying. He shot a questioning glance at Gibbs who just smiled at him. Hypnovision could have its fun moments. “I… uh…”

“You trust me, Lieutenant Caine?” Gibbs inquired.

“Yes.” Horatio blushed a little. “Probably more than I should.”

“So you’d be inclined to believe me if I told you that I suspected your team of being mutants?” Gibbs lowered his voice to an almost-whisper. Horatio nodded. “It fits if you think about it. How else would Speed have recovered so quickly?” Gibbs sipped from the mug of coffee in front of him.

“The bullets not hurting Calleigh… Eric’s breathing patterns…” Horatio mulled this new information over. “What about your team?” He asked. “How would you have arrived at that conclusion unless you or someone you know was a mutant themselves?”

“If it were true,” Gibbs took a bite out of his sandwich, “would I be able to trust you to not go blabbing it around?” He fixed his eyes on Horatio again.

Horatio nodded, watching as Gibbs licked some mayo off his thumb. “You can trust me with your life, Gibbs.”

Gibbs studied the other man’s expression. “Good to know.”

-

Tony pulled up in front of Speed’s apartment complex and parked the car. With McGee confined to the Miami lab for a few days, and Gibbs spending all his time ‘comparing notes’ with Horatio (those two were up to something, he could feel it), Tony had been left with the rental car. He climbed out of the car and found Speed’s apartment. The TV was on, so that meant he was home. Tony knocked on the door and waited. Speed opened the door clad only in a pair of navy blue pajama pants. Tony noticed that the area of his stomach where Speed had been shot revealed a distinct lack of scarring.

“Hey.” Speed raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

Tony shrugged. “Thought you might want food.”

Speed stared at Tony‘s empty arms. “So where _is_ this food?”

“Well,” Tony scratched the back of his head, “I was planning on just whipping something up, actually.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So… can I come in?” Speed opened the door wider and let Tony inside. “Nice place.” Tony observed as he took in the sparsely-decorated apartment.

“Delko would tell you different.” Speed closed the door. “He compared it to a garbage dump the other day.”

“What?” Tony blinked. Speed’s apartment was much too clean to even truly be considered messy. It was comfortably ‘lived-in.”

“Yeah, well, he’s one to talk.” Speed watched as Tony inspected his kitchen, looking in the refrigerator and all the cupboards. “Can I help find anything?”He sighed.

“No, no.” Tony looked at him seriously. “You were just shot. You should take it easy.” Speed bit back his next comment about being ‘perfectly fine and did he _look_ like he was just shot’ and wandered back to the couch. He sat and listened to the sounds of Tony puttering around his kitchen. Tony joined him a while later with some ham sandwiches and some freshly-made macaroni salad. “Your lunch, sir.” Tony announced as he handed Speed a plate and fork and sat next to him.

Speed rolled his eyes but accepted the plate. “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” Tony took a bite of his own sandwich. They ate in silence for a while and watched a football game on TV. Finally, Tony couldn’t take it anymore and turned to Speed. “You healed up nicely.” He commented with a pointed look at Speed’s stomach. Speed grabbed a throw pillow and held it in front of himself, panic rolling off of him. “Speed.” Tony placed a hand on Speed’s shoulder. “You’re a mutant too, aren’t you?” He asked softly.

Speed frantically tried to come up with a cover story when he suddenly realized what Tony had actually asked. “ _Too_?” He looked up.

“Yeah.” Tony morphed his features to look a little like Horatio, which sent Speed scrambling backwards. “Woah, woah!” Tony held up his hands and let his features go back to normal.

“You just-!” Speed blurted less than intelligently. Tony nodded. “How long have you known that I-”

“Since I saw you in the hospital.” Tony scratched his head. “I felt your emotions. You were hiding something.” Speed sighed. “I won’t tell anyone.” Tony paused. “But you should think about maybe cluing your team in.”

“ _Your_ team know about _you_?” Speed countered.

“My boss does, but he’s got some sort of magic persuasive stare, so…” Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I caved. –but I was planning on letting the rest of the team know soon.-”

“Yeah.” Speed ran a hand through his hair.

“So,” Tony began, “what do you think is up with Gibbs and Horatio?”

“What are you talking about, Tony.” Speed leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.

“They’re together _all the time_.” Tony bumped Speed with his elbow. “You don’t find that the least bit intriguing?”

“Tony.” Speed opened one eye. “It’s only been a week since you guys arrived. This doesn’t prove anything.”

“Speed.” Tony countered, using the same tone of voice Speed had used. “Are you an empath?”

Speed opened his other eye and raised his eyebrow. “No.”

“I can read Gibbs like a book.”

“You read?” Speed smirked at the indignant expression that crossed Tony’s face.

“Oh, very funny.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ve been known to read a book or two.” He frowned for a moment. “What was I saying?”

“You can read Gibbs?”

“Oh, right.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “I know Gibbs. I feel his emotions. But he’s doing a damned good job at trying to mask them.”

“Which means what, exactly?” Speed rolled his head along the back of the couch to look at Tony.

“My boss wants to get in your boss’ pants.” Tony stated matter-of-factly.

“What?!” Speed gaped. Did Tony really just say that?

“What?” Tony raised his hands in defense.” I just so happen to know his ‘I want to be in your pants, but I don’t actually want you to know’ vibe.”

“Personal experience there, DiNozzo?” Speed snarked.

“Erm…” Tony scratched at his head.

“So you think Horatio might feel the same way?” Speed asked, taking some of the pressure off Tony.

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know him as well as you do, but he was giving off some sort of vibe that indicated that he was at least interested in getting to know more about the Silver Fox.”

“Silver Fox?” Speed smirked.

“Don’t ask.” Tony shook his head.

-

Officer Tina McKinley had just pulled over a speeding grey Civic and was approaching the vehicle to talk to the driver, flashlight out to light the way on the back road. The window rolled down and the driver peeked her head out as Tina reached the driver’s side door.

“License and registration.” Tina stated as the driver handed her both. “Thank you.” She studied the license photo and the driver. “Do you know how fast you were going, Ms. Avondale?”

“I thought I was going forty.” Kiki Avondale frowned.

“I clocked you going fifty-three.” Tina clipped the license to her front pocket. “I’m going to run your information for confirmation. I’ll be right back.” Tina turned to walk back to her car and doubled over in pain when something stabbed her in the stomach. She tried to reach for her radio, but the radio was ripped away and thrown to the side of the road by something she couldn’t see.

“Officer?” Kiki called as she opened her car door. “Are you alright?”

“Stay in the car!” Tina yelled, another stab hitting her squarely in the chest; quickly followed by two more. She crumpled to her knees stretching her hand out in the direction the stabs had come from. Or at least that’s where she thought they’d come from. It was too dark to properly see anything, but even so, there was nothing there. She managed to form a small flame in the palm of her hand before she fell to the ground and lost consciousness; the flame sputtering out.

“Oh God.” Kiki sat in her car, watching through the rearview mirror. “Ohgodohgodohgod...” Her head snapped around at the faint sound of a footstep outside her car window. “Hello?” She whispered tentatively, her voice strained. “Is someone there?” She peered into the dark and found nothing. “I- I promise I won’t say anything, I-” She was cut off by her own pained gasp of surprised as something sharp plunged into her chest. “No-” The pull of the object being removed from the wound caused her to cry out. Something hard connected with her head and the world went black.

Once a safe distance from the scene and hiding behind a tree, the attacker risked becoming visible. A satisfied smirk of a job well-done crossed his features. They needed to be taught a lesson. And he would be the one to teach it to them.

-

Horatio stared at the scene in front of him. Officer McKinley lay on the ground in a fetal position, one arm outstretched along the pavement. And in the grey car was the body of a young woman, barely twenty years old. Horatio cursed under his breath. “Alexx?” He asked, hoping the Medical Examiner would know something useful.

“According to the license I found on Officer McKinley, the girl in the car is Kiki Avondale.” Alexx looked up at Horatio. “Sorry, Horatio. Not much more I can tell you.” She paused, glancing at both victims. “They were both stabbed; McKinley four times and Ms. Avondale just once.”

“Thank you, Alexx.” Horatio turned and came face to face with- “Speed.” He blinked, surprised to see the man there. “I thought… you were on sick leave.” Horatio raised a questioning eyebrow.

Speed shrugged. “Well, Delko is busy with the floater, Calleigh is up to her eyes in bullets…” He gestured to the scene. “Thought you could use some help.”

Horatio turned to face Speed directly and peered over his sunglasses at him. “Are you sure you’re alright to work, Speed?”

“I’m fine.” Speed scratched the back of his head.

“Speed…” Horatio locked eyes with his CSI.

Speed held up a hand. “Promise.” He placed a hand on Horatio’s shoulder. “I’ll explain later, okay?” Horatio nodded and Speed returned his attention to the scene. “Anyone grab the police tape yet?”

Horatio smirked and pushed his sunglasses back up his nose with his index finger. “Help yourself.”

-

Speed cued the police footage up on the plasma screen.

“Hey, Tim.” McGee greeted as he walked back in from a quick coffee run to the break room, Tony right behind him.

Speed twitched in surprise and looked up at the Federal Agent with a grin. “Hey, Tim.”

Tony rewarded McGee with a slap to the head. “Stop flirting, McGee, we have work to do.” He said with a wink in Speed’s direction.

“But… I- I wasn’t… I don’t… not that you’re not…” McGee stammered at Speed.

“Relax, Probie.” Tony grinned at McGee’s awkwardness. “It was a joke.”

Speed smirked and rewound the footage to find the car that had been at the scene. He watched as Officer McKinley turned toward to squad car and doubled over, blood blossoming on her uniform. “Hey, Tony.” Speed waved Tony over. “Tell me what you see here.” He pointed to the footage that continued to roll on the screen.

Tony furrowed his brow. Was this a joke? “Erm… nothing?”

“Okay, good.” Speed affirmed. “Just wanted to be sure that I wasn’t seeing things...” Speed paused and twirled his hand in a circular motion. “You know what I mean.”

“So does this mean…” McGee trailed off.

“Yeah.” Speed sighed. “Horatio is going to be _pissed_.”

Tony let out a bark of nervous laughter. “You’ve never seen a pissed off Gibbs.”

McGee stared at the footage with dismay. “We are so...” He began as they saw the little spurt of flame from McKinley’s hand.

“Screwed?” Tony supplied helpfully.

“Who’s screwed, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked as he and Horatio entered the A/V lab. Tony shot a look at Speed as if to say ‘I told you so.’

Horatio stared at the screen. “This the same guy?” He asked, indicating the invisible attacker.

“No way to tell yet.” Speed sighed, rolling his chair back so McGee could mess with the filters again. They all watched as, within a few minutes, the attacker appeared.

“Way to go, _McGeek_!” Tony grinned.

Speed rubbed at his forehead This was not good. “Yeah, same guy.”

Gibbs turned on his agents. “Why haven’t we caught him yet?” he growled.

“Kinda hard to arrest invisible people, Boss.” Tony winced at the slap to his head. “You know, one of these days you’re going to give me a brain injury.”

“Oh? You don’t have one already?” Gibbs glared at his senior agent. “Find him!” He pointed to the man on the screen before storming out of the lab.

“You heard the man.” Horatio pushed his sunglasses back up his nose and followed Gibbs, leaving three investigators blinking at his retreating back. He found Gibbs in a dim corner of the lab. “Gibbs?” Gibbs grunted when Horatio stepped into his personal space. “You alright?”

Gibbs glared at the redhead in front of him. “No, I’m not alright!” He yelled, even though Horatio was three feet away. “That guy is still out there taking out people who are trying to protect this country!”

“Hey, I want to see this guy go down as much as much as the next guy, but-”

“Then _act_ like it.” Gibbs growled.

Horatio ripped the sunglasses off his face and let his eyes physically flash at Gibbs. “I am!” He sighed. “Some of us don’t have the luxury off going _full throttle_ … without noticeable consequences!” Gibbs ran a hand through his silver hair. “Look, Gibbs… what we need to be doing is figuring out _why_ this guy is targeting these people.” Horatio leaned closer. “Either he’s after people in law enforcement,” he whispered, “or he’s after mutants…” They both sighed.

“I need coffee.” Gibbs stepped away from the tempting redhead before he did something unprofessional.

“I know just the place.” Horatio placed his hand on Gibbs’ back and steered him toward the main doors.

-

McGee paced the Miami A/V lab as he waited for Abby to answer her phone.

“Will you sit down?” Tony whispered at him harshly. He was rewarded with a glare from McGee.

“Abby Scuito, Forensic Mistress of Darkness. What can I do for you, McGee?” Abby’s chipper voice rang through the phone to greet McGee.

“Abby.” McGee sighed, running a hand over his practically shaved head and frowned a little upon remembering he currently had no hair to run his hand through. He couldn’t wait for it to grow back. Stupid idea.

“What’s up, Timmy?” Abby asked as she swiveled her chair back and forth a little. “Still under ‘house arrest’?”

“I want out of here, Abs.” McGee fidgeted with the hem of his sport coat. “I’m itching for some field work.” He sighed again. “Something. Anything. I’m starting to go crazy down here.”

“Starting?” Abby teased.

“Abby…” McGee warned, though he didn’t really mean it.

“Sorry.”

McGee rubbed his head a little where his attacker had hit him. “I miss you.” Tony rolled his eyes and nudged Speed, indicating that now would be a good time for them to leave before things got too schmoopy. They slipped out of the lab and left McGee alone with his conversation.

“Aw, I miss you too, Tim.”

McGee looked up when one of the computers started beeping at him. “Hey, I love you, Abs, but I gotta go.” He flipped his phone shut and typed on the keyboard for a moment or two before hitting speed dial number one.

“Gibbs.” Gibbs growled into his phone.

“Boss, I just got a hit on the facial recognition software.” McGee pressed the phone between his shoulder and his ear. “A mister Cameron Russell.”

“Put out a BOLO.” Gibbs demanded. Horatio blinked at him from the driver’s seat. Gibbs needed to get laid. Soon.

“Already did, Boss.” McGee grimaced a smile to himself. “And I’m uploading the GPS coordinates to the Hummer.”

“Good work, McGee.” Gibbs flipped his phone shut and shoved it back into his jacket pocket.

Horatio glanced at Gibbs. “Agent McGee find something?”

“Yeah.” Gibbs’ arm twitched for the armrest as Horatio swerved the Hummer into the next lane, to an angry chorus of honking, to avoid the slowing traffic. “Anyone ever tell you, you drive like a maniac?”

Horatio flashed Gibbs a broad grin. “Only every day.”

Gibbs nodded. ‘Finally someone who knows how to _drive_ ,’ Gibbs thought to himself with a smile.

-

Cameron watched from an otherwise unoccupied corner of the A/V lab, completely still and completely invisible, listening to the goings on around him. He’d been certain that he was getting away with it, but he’d snuck in, just to be sure. So far, he didn’t like what he was seeing. The geeky kid had managed to _get his picture_! He knew for _certain_ that there was no way he had let his guard down on any of that footage. God, they had his _name_. And his _address_. Damn it!

Cameron slipped through the door the very next time someone opened it and made his way out to his car, being careful every step of the way that he wouldn’t be detected. Only when he was _positive_ that there weren’t people around did he make himself visible again so he could get into his car. He didn’t want to draw attention, and a car driving itself down the road would more than certainly do just that. He climbed into his car and made it to the Causeway before flooring the accelerator.

It would have to be done the very moment he got home. Good thing he was always prepared, he mused to himself.

-

Gibbs and Horatio pulled up to the address that McGee had given them. Horatio flicked a look at Gibbs that told him to behave himself. They were here to _talk_ to Mr. Russell, not murder him. Though, that would come later if Gibbs had anything to say about it.

Gibbs was out of the Hummer before Horatio even opened his door. “Gibbs!” Horatio closed the door of the Hummer and ran to catch up to Gibbs.

“What!” Gibbs snapped. He needed to catch this guy yesterday! Horatio opened his mouth when the house in front of them exploded in a ball of fire and smoke knocking them to the ground. Bits of debris rained down on them. Gibbs slowly lifted his head when he deemed it safe to do so. “DAMMIT!” He roared, slamming his fist down on the sidewalk.

Horatio looked up at him. “You okay?” He asked, reaching over to gently prod at a small cut on Gibbs’ forehead.

Gibbs waved Horatio’s hand away from his head. “I’m fine.” He smacked Horatio’s hand when it refused to be chased away.

Horatio looked at the blazing house and pulled out his phone. “Stay down.” He told Gibbs as he called dispatch to alert them of the situation. Gibbs hardly heard what Horatio was yelling into the phone. He tried to sit up only to have Horatio’s hand on his chest stopping him. The touch practically burned and he tried to move away, but Horatio just grabbed the front of Gibbs’ shirt to make sure he stayed down. Horatio hung up his phone. “Stay put.” He told Gibbs applying a little more pressure on Gibbs’ chest. “We can’t be sure that either of us hasn’t been hurt worse than that.” He tipped his head at Gibbs’ cut.

Gibbs sighed. “Been hurt worse.” He wiped at the small bit of blood on his forehead.

Horatio released his hold on Gibbs’ shirt and brought his hand up to inspect the cut again. “Looks deep.” He pulled a folded handkerchief out of his jacket and dabbed at the cut. Gibbs winced and tried to move away. Horatio sighed. “Hold still, Gibbs.” Gibbs grunted and batted at the offending bit of linen. Horatio took Gibbs’ head in his hands. “Don’t make me cuff you.”

Gibbs smirked “That a threat or a promise?”

Horatio blinked. “Um…” Gibbs stilled and Horatio took the opportunity to finish gently cleaning the area around the wound.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Gibbs smirked.

Horatio opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the approach of the emergency vehicles. “Later.” He mouthed as the EMTs rushed over to them.

“Either of you hurt?” The brunette paramedic asked, examining Gibbs’ cut with her scrutinizing gaze.

“I’m _fine_.” Gibbs reiterated for what felt like the billionth time.

Horatio let himself be poked and prodded at by the other paramedic. “I’m okay.” He carefully rolled his neck. “Neither of us were close enough to sustain any real damage. We’ll probably be a little stiff the rest of the day.”

“Jethro!” Tony shouted in alarm as he rushed over.

McGee wasn’t far behind Tony as he called out. “You okay, Boss?”

“I’ll be fine. Just a scratch!” Gibbs stood stiffly and made his way over to Tony. “Jethro?” he asked with a slap to Tony’s head.

“Sorry, Boss.”

“H?” Speed offered a hand to help Horatio up.

Horatio took Speed’s hand. “I’m okay, Speed.” He dusted off the front of his suit jacket and grabbed his sunglasses off the sidewalk as he stood. They watched the firefighters dump water on the blaze with help from the fire hose.

“That the suspect’s house?” Tony asked in awe.

“No, DiNozzo, the President lives there.” Gibbs growled.

Tony took a few steps back, closer to Speed. “Right, Boss.”

“Make sure you process the _Hell_ out of that house!” Gibbs motioned for Horatio to follow and the two disappeared across the street.

Tony rested his arm on Speed’s shoulder. “Looks like we’re in for a long day.”

Speed nodded. “Well… I hope you brought coveralls. Would hate for that pretty suit of yours to get all dirty.” He patted Tony on the back and headed for the Hummer he’d pulled up in.

Tony looked at McGee. “Did you-?” McGee shook his head. “Great.” Tony hurried after Speed. “You wouldn’t happen to have a couple extra pairs of those coveralls, would you?” Speed smirked and handed him two of the baggy beige garments. “I love you, man.” Tony slipped into a pair of the coveralls and tossed the other at McGee.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs’ team has to travel to Miami for a case when someone starts killing people with connections to both teams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own them. *is sad* Thanks to [](http://spoonyriffic.livejournal.com/profile)[**spoonyriffic**](http://spoonyriffic.livejournal.com/) for the beta! I <3 yous! :D Also, thanks to [](http://obvious-wing.livejournal.com/profile)[**obvious_wing**](http://obvious-wing.livejournal.com/) for the AMAZING artwork! I <3 you too! :D

“This lock is broken.” Speed sighed as he inspected the suspect’s charred safe on the floor of the lab’s forensic garage.

“Fix it.” Gibbs ordered, taking a swig of coffee.

Speed looked up at the silver-haired man. “I can’t. It’s a digital lock.” He gestured to the safe. “This requires knowledge that I don’t have.”

“We do.” Gibbs pointed to the metal monstrosity. “McGee!”

“Um, Boss-” McGee was interrupted with a slap to the head.

“Fix it!” Gibbs barked.

“Yes, Boss.” McGee approached the safe and placed his hand over the lock. Within seconds it had turned on and unlocked. McGee opened the metal door.

Speed stared. “How-” He looked over a Tony. “How many of you Feds are mutants?” he asked, his voice low to keep the passersby of the lab from hearing.

“Um, guys? We’ve got a problem!” McGee broke into the conversation. “You’re gonna want to see these files.”

“What you got McGee?” Gibbs asked as he and the other crowded around the youngest agent.

“These files… have our names on them.” Horatio observed, pulling off his sunglasses and giving Speed a pointed look. “I assume this has to do with what you had wanted to explain to me? About why you were back at work so quickly?”

Speed nodded. “I can heal myself. And others.” He elaborated as McGee read off the names.

Caine, Horatio; David, Ziva; Delko, Eric; DiNozzo, Anthony; Duquesne, Calleigh; Gibbs, Leroy Jethro; Mallard, Donald; McGee, Timothy; Palmer, Jimmy; Sciuto, Abigail; Speedle, Timothy; Woods, Alexx...

“Boss, we can’t submit these as evidence.” Tony looked at Gibbs. “These prove the existence of mutants.”

“Yeah, I see that, DiNozzo.”

“Lose ‘em.” Horatio took a step back, hoping the distance might unassociate him with the files. The others turned their attention to him. “Bury them, burn them… I don’t care how you do it, just make them disappear.” He strode out of the garage.

“Um…” Speed started after him only to be stopped by Gibbs’ hand.

“You help take care of those.” Gibbs pointed at the files before heading off in search of the wayward red-head. He found Horatio in the darkened corner that he himself had occupied just the day before. “You alright, Lieutenant?”

Horatio was pressing his fingertips into his temples, having tucked his sunglasses into his pocket. “I’ve been better.” He risked glancing up when Gibbs moved to join him in the corner. “The backlash if those files got out.”

“Hey. My guys are good.” Gibbs reassured quietly, stepping closer. “Those files will never exist as far as anyone else is concerned.” He brought a hand up and placed it on the side of Horatio’s neck. Horatio’s eyes widened for a split second. “We’ll be the only ones that know. Us, and those three. And the rest of our teams if we choose to confront them.” Horatio nodded, the skin of his neck brushing against Gibbs’ calloused palm. He closed his eyes, wishing that hand could be touching him in other places. Gibbs pressed a quick kiss to Horatio’s forehead. Horatio’s eyes flew open but Gibbs had already stepped back. Gibbs gave Horatio an awkward pat on the arm. “We’ll figure this out.” He stated as he turned to head back to his team.

“Wait a minute…” Horatio cocked an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips as Gibbs turned back around. “What was that?”

Gibbs raised his own eyebrow, mirroring Horatio. “What was what?”

“Just now… you kissed me, Agent Gibbs.”

“Oh, you must be mistaken, Lieutenant. I did no such thing.” Gibbs was rewarded with a smug smile.

“Now, you see… I’m a man who admits when I’m wrong...” Horatio took a step closer, cheating his body to the side.

“Good.” Gibbs gave a curt nod. “Then you know this conversation never happened.”

“Right. In that case, I won’t go telling everyone about the not-kiss.” Horatio winked with a grin and strode off to the DNA lab.

“Horatio!” Valera looked up in surprise. “I was just about to page you.”

“Really?” Horatio paused, unsure if he wanted to hear the news that Valera had for him.

“I ran the DNA of your burn victim in the morgue through CODIS and I got a hit.” Valera handed Horatio the case file with the print out.

“This is not the man from the footage we have.” Horatio frowned. “This man was a decoy. Which means… our killer is still out there.” He took the file and offered Valera a smile. “Thank you.” He said as he walked out of the lab. They had a killer to apprehend.

-

Cameron drove his car around aimlessly on the Miami streets, the headlights on his car lighting the way. He’d have to ditch the car soon, of course. They’d have the make and model and license plates by then. He cursed his luck. That house had cost him quite a bit of money. Damn it! He was still paying it off. At least the fellow he’d blown up with the house had been dead before the explosion. He wasn’t _cruel_ , after all.

He was doing the general public a _favor_ , but these fools wouldn’t understand. They were part of the problem anyway.

Mutants had no right to be in any sort of positions of power or protection. I mean really, who did they think they were, trying to blend into society? People would start relying on them without even knowing it was happening. The day would come when they’d turn to them to offer protection from some disaster, only to find that these ‘protectors’ were diseased and weak. ‘Sorry, you’re on your own for this one, folks.’

Yes, he was doing the poor unsuspecting bastards a favor, and they would never know it was him.

Cameron pulled into a hotel parking lot and parked his car. He needed to get some sleep if he was going to steal a car and drive it the rest of the way to D.C. tomorrow. The parking lot was fairly empty, so it looked to be a safe bet that there would be rooms available. He turned off his car, made sure the lights were off, and headed into the hotel lobby.

The guy at the front desk looked up from his sketch pad and raised an eyebrow as he pushed the objects aside. “Hello.” He greeted, as Cameron approached.

Cameron looked at him. “You have any rooms available?” He asked.

“Sure.” The guy, Andy J. according to his name tag, turned to the computer. “You looking for anything in particular?”

“Non-smoking. Single.” Cameron replied right away. “Away from other occupied rooms if possible.”

Andy typed on the computer for a moment. “Okay, not a problem.” When Andy gave him the total for his room, Cameron handed over his cash. He thanked God that at least there wouldn’t be a paper trail.

“Have a goodnight.” Cameron tossed over his shoulder as he took the key card from Andy and headed for his room.

“You, too.” Andy responded automatically, turning his attention back to his sketch pad.

Cameron found the door to his room and opened it. The single queen bed making the room actually appear more spacious. He shut the door, made sure the blinds were closed and headed for the bathroom. Lifting the lid of the toilet, he unfastened his jeans and took a hold of himself, relieving his bladder into the porcelain bowl. He let out a sigh as he felt some of the tension he’d been carrying drain out of his body. When he finished, he cleaned himself, flushed the toilet and washed his hands. He stopped to splash water on his face before drying off and collapsing on the bed. The weariness of the day’s events began to take its toll and he fell asleep, not bothering to get under the covers.

-

“Boss…” McGee’s voice trembled slightly as he called Gibbs over.

“What’d you got, McGee?” Gibbs turned to the agent. “It better be good news.” He took a sip of coffee, not liking the look on McGee’s face.

“Um, not really, Boss.” McGee held up the file on Horatio. “He’s got details of Lieutenant Caine’s routines, where he lives, who he spends his time with…” He looked Gibbs in the eye for second before shifting his focus back to the file. “I think Cameron Russell was going to go after Horatio next.”

Horatio walked in with the case file. “The man in the morgue is not Cameron Russell.” He stared as Gibbs growled and snatched the file McGee was holding. “What-”

“He was going after you next.” Gibbs held the open file up for Horatio to see. “He knows where you live, where you go, what you eat for breakfast.”

“Boss, if he’s ‘dead’ he’s not really going to stick around, right?” Tony interjected.

Gibbs shot Tony a look that quieted him instantly. “That doesn’t mean he hasn’t had time to plant something!”

“Gibbs-” Horatio began, only to find Gibbs’ hand firmly at the back of his head to force him to pay attention.

“You’re not going home or anywhere else you’d normally go without protection detail until we’re sure there’s nothing screwy going on.” Gibbs stared Horatio down for a moment. “That’s not negotiable.” Horatio nodded and Gibbs released his hold on Horatio’s head. “McGee!” Gibbs turned to the agent. “Get Russell’s picture _out there_! Hotels, grocery stores!” Gibbs narrowed his eyes when McGee opened his mouth to protest. “I don’t care how or where, just do it!”

“On it, Boss!” McGee hurried off to the A/V lab, Tony following in hopes of finding Speed.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs called, stopping Tony dead in his tracks at the door. He pressed the file of Horatio against Tony’s chest. “Take care of that.”

“You got it, Boss.” Tony frowned slightly as Gibbs and Horatio walked past him leaving him with all the work.

“You’re not going to help him with that?” Horatio inquired as they headed for the break room. Gibbs for coffee and Horatio because Gibbs refused to let him out of his sight now that he was a target.

Gibbs shrugged. “We can get Speedle to help him.” He reasoned as they entered the break room.

Speed looked up from his cup of coffee and newspaper. “Get me to help who? And with what?”

“Speedle.” Gibbs smirked. “Go help DiNozzo, would ya? He has some paper work to do.” Gibbs gave Speed a significant look as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Sure.” Speed stood and grabbed a lid for his coffee. “I’ll get right on that.” He slipped out the door, coffee in hand.

Horatio stared after him with a smirk. “There’s something going on between those two.”

“Ya think?” Gibbs sat in one of the more comfortable looking chairs and took a sip of his coffee.

“And the reason you sent Speed to help him?” Horatio asked as he sat in a chair kitty-corner from Gibbs.

“What, instead of doing it myself?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

“Exactly.”

Gibbs shrugged. “Tony’s better at that sort of thing than me. I’d be in the way.”

“And Speed?”

Gibbs took a swallow of coffee. “Why not?”

“You don’t think he’ll be a distraction?” Horatio smirked.

“Two heads are better than one.” Gibbs reasoned, glancing at Horatio.

Horatio watched as Gibbs took another swig of coffee. “Gibbs…” He studied the other man. “Maybe… you should take a break from mainlining caffeine and get some sleep?” Gibbs snorted. “If you’re going to be my personal body guard, I’d feel safer if you were rested.”

Gibbs shook his head. “You’re not going back home until my team can clear your place.”

“Then… I guess I’ll have to stay with you tonight, won’t I.” Horatio tilted his head and smiled, blue eyes twinkling with a hint of mischief.

Gibbs regarded him carefully and gave a nod. “Guess so.”

-

“Tony!” Speed entered the layout room where Tony was gathering files into an evidence box.

Tony looked up with a grin. “Timmy!” He laughed at Speed’s horrified expression.

“Don’t call me ‘Timmy’.” Speed narrowed his eyes at Tony. “Only Alexx is allowed to call me that.” He sat on a stool and looked at the stack of files. “So, your boss sent me to help, but it looks like you have everything under control… so…”

“Pff.” Tony placed more files in the box. “He sent you to keep me company is what he did.” Tony grinned and nudged Speed with his elbow.

Speed held out his arms, coffee still in hand. “Hot liquid here!” He protested. “I’d prefer if it didn’t end up on my lap, thanks.” Tony swiped the paper cup and took a healthy sip. “Hey!”

“There. Less coffee to spill.” Tony grinned.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” Speed wiped the rim of the lid before taking a sip.

Tony leaned closer, hands resting on the table on either side of Speed. “Oh, I could be.” He murmured in Speed’s ear.

Speed’s eyes widened and he choked on his coffee. “Smartass.” He hissed.

“It wouldn’t be my ass that would be smarting, Speedy.” Tony flicked his tongue out to lick the top of Speed’s ear and allowed himself a smug smile when Speed stood up and spun around, stool clattering to the floor.

“What the Hell!” Speed whispered harshly. “At work in case you hadn’t noticed!”

“Oh, I noticed.” Tony whispered back with a lazy smile, tipping his gaze downward.

Speed froze. He was in _way_ over his head here, and Tony’s leg in between his own wasn’t helping. “Move your leg.” He immediately regretted the hissed demand as Tony began rocking his leg against his groin. “Not what I meant.” Damn it, he was not going to- aw, Hell. He took Tony’s head in his hands and pulled his head closer. “Off. Now.” He ground out through his teeth.

Tony stepped back and turned back to the files, his hand brushing Speed’s hip as he did so. “Sorry.”

Speed rolled his eyes. “No you’re not.” He pointed his finger at Tony. “You’re sorry I stopped you.”

Tony sighed. “Yeah. I… I like you.” He sighed again. “I mean…”

“Man, for an Empath, you certainly have a horrible time with feelings.” Speed raised an eyebrow.

“Only my own.” Tony confessed wryly as he stuffed more files into the box. It was crazy how many mutants there were in Law Enforcement. “So, our suspect isn’t as dead as we thought.”

“What?” Speed blinked, momentarily confused with the sudden change in subject.

“Yeah.” Tony looked up at Speed. “Crispy dead guy in the morgue is not Cameron Russell.”

“Decoy?” Speed asked, the coffee in his hand completely forgotten.

Tony shrugged. “That’d be my guess.”

Speed leaned his forearms against the table. “So he’s still out there?”

“And possibly after your boss.” Tony slid the file on Horatio over to Speed.

Speed flipped through it. “He wouldn’t stick around, though. Not if he’s supposed to be dead. He’d run.”

“Yeah.” Tony agreed. “But maybe not before setting some sort of trap in place.” Speed frowned. “Hey.” Tony put his hand on the table, fingers barely touching Speed’s. “Gibbs is on personal protection duty. He won’t let anything happen to Horatio.” He moved his hand a little closer, offering support but not wanting to spook Speed after his earlier… display. “Promise.”

Speed nodded. “So how are you planning on disposing of these?” He asked, indicating the files.

Tony shrugged. “I was thinking about driving ‘em down the beach, having a bon fire. Use the paper to get the fire started. Maybe cook a couple hot dogs while I’m at it. Some S’mores.”

“Sounds fun.” Speed replied dryly.

“What, you don’t wanna come with me?” Tony turned his best puppy-eyed pout on Speed. “I’ll be so lonely by myself.”

“What’re you, five?” Speed snorted. “Take McGee with you.”

“He’ll just be on the phone with Abby the whole time telling her how much he misses her.” Tony pulled a disgusted face. “And that’s no fun for a bon fire.”

“I’m not really a bon fire kind of guy, Tony.” Speed began fidgeting with his coffee cup and looked down, as if surprised to see it there, before he took a sip of the now lukewarm liquid.

“Who is having a bon fire?” Ziva asked, entering the room.

“Ziva!” Tony blinked. “When’d you get here?” He shoved the top down on the box and glanced at Speed.

“Gibbs called me in to assist with apprehending our suspect.” Ziva extended a hand to Speed. “Ziva David. Mossad.”

Speed shook Ziva’s offered hand. “Tim Speedle.”

“Gonna use your nifty disappearing act to help catch him?” Tony grinned when Ziva’s eyes widened. “Oh, don’t get your panties in a wad, Ziva, Speed’s one of us.”

“I see.” Ziva still narrowed her eyes at the fact that Tony was being so blasé about something that was _her_ secret.

“Ziva can turn invisible like our killer.” Tony explained to Speed.

“If he turns invisible when we try to apprehend him, I will be able to do so as well and be able to see him.” Ziva elaborated as Tony picked up the box of files.

“Well, Speed and I have a bonfire to plan.” Tony nudged Speed with his foot on his way to the door.

Speed stood to follow Tony. “Nice to meet you, Ziva.”

-

“You’re sure about this.” Speed stared at the fire pit that Tony had set up.

“Yeah.” Tony tossed the files into the middle of the fire pit and piled some dry wood on top. “You want to grab the food?” He tipped his head toward the Hummer. “There should be a blanket or two in there as well. Oh, and the tent.”

Speed dug around in the backseat of the Hummer and found the food and blankets and camping supplies that Tony had sent him to retrieve. “Think you packed enough?” Speed mused as he walked back to Tony.

“I dunno.” Tony grabbed the tent from Speed and began pitching it on the sand. “Got hot dogs, graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows…”

“Three bags of marsh mallows, Tony.” Speed smirked as he set down the box of food and mini cooler before wrapping a blanket around his shoulders watching Tony put up the tent. “How many people are you expecting?”

“Just you.” Tony got the tent set up, some sort of fancy no muss no fuss brands, and fished the matches out of his pocket. “Why?” He grinned and struck a match, lighting the corner of one of the files.

“You’ve got enough here to feed at least ten people.” Speed watched Tony get the fire started as he spread a second blanket out on the bottom of the tent.

Tony shrugged and sat in the tent on one of the blankets, patting a spot next to him. “You gonna stand there all night?” He asked.

Speed shifted on his feet. Being close to Tony seemed to be getting increasingly dangerous. “Maybe.”

Tony sighed and looked at Speed. “Not gonna bite.” Speed stood rooted to the spot and watched as the wood began to catch fire. “Alright then. Have it your way.” Tony laid back on the blanket, hands behind his head, and stared up at the twinkling stars. A few minutes later he felt the tug of the blanket shifting as Speed sank down to sit next to him, a couple of hot dogs on a pair of metal camping skewers. Tony smiled, resting his hand gently on the small of Speed’s back and making small circles with his thumb.

Speed stiffened a little at the sudden touch, but held one of the skewers out to Tony. “Here.”

Tony sat back up and took the skewer from Speed, holding it near the fire. “Thanks.” He shifted his hand from Speed’s back to rest of the blanket which caused him to lean a little closer to Speed. “Admit it. This wasn’t such a bad idea.” He bumped Speed’s shoulder with his own.

“Yeah.” The corners of Speed’s mouth twitched up in a quick smile. “So… is this what camping is like?” Speed asked, turning his hot dog over.

Tony looked over at him. “You’ve never been camping?” Speed shook his head. “Well, yeah… I suppose it is… without all the funny smells and stuff.” Speed pulled his hot dog away from the fire and poke at it. “Careful.”

Speed cursed and shook his hand when he burned his finger. “Hot.” Speed mumbled sticking his finger in his mouth to relieve the pain.

“Yes you are.” Tony whispered into Speed’s ear.

Speed removed his finger from his mouth, turned to face Tony and chomped off a bite of his hot dog. “Screw you.”

“Promise?” Tony purred, taking a more suggestive bite of his own hot dog. Speed just rolled eyes and finished his hot dog before spearing another. After several hours a couple more hot dogs, numerous S’mores and a few beers, Speed poked at the glowing embers of the fire. Tony popped his last bit of S’more into his mouth and proceeded to lick his fingers. He watched Speed’s face in what was left of the fire light. “Anyone ever tell you you’re pretty?” Tony inquired softly, his eyes tracing over Speed’s features in profile.

Speed flicked a glance at Tony and shook his head, putting down the stick he had been using to poke the embers. “Um, no, not really… no.”

Tony ran a hand through Speed’s hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Well you are.” He rested his forehead against Speed’s.

Speed blushed, trying to look away, but Tony caught his chin and kissed him soundly on the lips. Speed’s eyes flew open, yet he didn’t pull away; Tony tasted like chocolate. “Tony.” He mumbled against the other man’s mouth. “Public.”

Tony pulled back and looked into Speed’s eyes. “Trust me?”

Speed nodded. “Yeah, but-” He started to protest, but realized to futility. Tony could feel his emotions and if Speed began to really freak out, he trusted that Tony would stop. “Yeah… I trust you.” Speed planted a hungry kiss on Tony’s lips and pulled his head closer.

Tony pulled Speed the rest of the way into the tent and zipped the flap. He began placing kisses at Speed’s neck, sliding a hand under his shirt. Speed moaned, arching into the touch, and gasped when he felt Tony’s finger brush over his nipple. His hand flew out to catch Tony’s wrist. Tony lifted his head from Speed’s neck.

“I…” Speed looked into Tony’s eyes, knowing Tony must now be feeling his panic.

“Hey.” Tony whispered, pulling his hand out from under Speed’s shirt. “What’s wrong?”

“Um…” Speed felt the blush creep up his cheeks. “Until I met you, I was straight… I…”

Tony regarded his face. “So you haven’t…” Speed shook his head, his breath beginning to come in gasps. “Easy.” Tony soothed, stroking Speed’s hair gently. “We don’t have to.”

Speed closed his eyes. “’M sorry.” He mumbled, turning his head away.

“Hey.” Tony murmured as he took Speed’s head in his hands. “Look at me.” He gave a sympathetic smile when Speed’s eyes met his own. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing, you hear me?”

“I _do_ like you, Tony.” Speed rested his hands on Tony’s forearms.

“I know, Speed.” Tony kissed him gently.

Speed nuzzled his head against one of Tony’s hands. “I mean… I just met you… and…” He shivered and let out a sigh. “It’s… I feel… exposed…”

Tony nodded. “I understand.” He laid next to Speed and wrapped an arm around him.

“Tony…” Speed snuggled close.

“Hm?” Tony looked at Speed, his hand automatically moving to cup Speed’s face.

Speed laid his head on Tony’s shoulder and nuzzled. “Thanks.”

Tony smiled, pulling Speed closer and kissing his forehead. “I’m not going to force you, Speed.” He covered them both with a blanket.

Speed snuggled against Tony, closing his eyes. “Night.” Speed murmured as he drifted off to sleep.

Tony smiled and closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Speed.”

-

Gibbs ran his hand through Horatio’s hair as he was pinned up against the hotel room wall by the lanky red-head. Lips descended on his neck and began sucking forcefully.

“Horatio.” He breathed as nimble fingers ran down his naked chest only to slide around his waist and squeeze his equally naked ass.

Horatio unfastened his own pants and slid them down to his thighs. “Gonna take you right here, Jethro.” Gibbs moaned. Horatio’s lips were on his own, kissing hungrily. He pulled Horatio’s head closer as a slim slicked finger probed its way into his ass. A muffled shout of surprise left Gibbs’ throat. He tore his lips away from Horatio’s when the gentle ministrations left him needing more.

“Not gonna break, Horatio.” He panted. “I can take it.” Horatio pushed a second finger into Gibbs in response. “Yes.” Gibbs found Horatio’s mouth again as the fingers in his ass probed deeper. Unexpected pressure on his prostate caused him to cry out. “Now.” Gibbs growled out.

Horatio stepped back, the loss of the fingers causing Gibbs to feel empty. The feeling didn’t have to last for long, however, as Horatio rolled on a condom and slicked it with lube before lifting Gibbs’ leg and pushing into his ass. Horatio bit down on Gibbs shoulder at the tightness that already had him threatening to come. Gibbs groaned and grabbed Horatio’s ass, trying to pull him deeper inside.

Horatio rolled his hips. “God, Gibbs.” He began thrusting harder and faster. Gibbs moaned; he was so close already. A well-placed brush of his prostate had him seeing stars as he came. Horatio gave a few more frantic thrusts before toppling over the edge himself. He let Gibb’s leg slip out of his grip to rest on the floor. Gibbs head hit the wall as he panted through the last tremors of his release. Horatio pulled out and slumped against Gibbs with a sated smile and a tired ‘so good.’

“Yeah, it was.” Gibbs replied closing his eyes and drifting off, still standing against the wall.

-

Gibbs woke up and stared up at the ceiling from the hotel room single queen bed. He looked over and found himself covered in a blanket of rumpled suit-wearing redhead. Damn. The mind-blowing sex had only been a dream. The way Horatio was curled up against his side held promise, however. He slipped an arm around Horatio’s shoulders and enjoyed the moment.

Horatio stirred and opened his eyes. “Morning.” He mumbled sleepily.

Gibbs smiled at him. “Morning.”

“Time for work?” Horatio asked, scrubbing a hand through his hair causing it to fluff up and be just that much more ridiculously endearing. Gibbs nodded in the affirmative. He decided Horatio looked positively delicious with bed head. Horatio sat up and wandered toward the bathroom only to stop.

“What?” Gibbs asked.

Horatio smiled a smile that Gibbs though looked almost shy. “I seem to not have a toothbrush.”

Gibbs stood and riffled through his duffle, pulling out a toothbrush and toothpaste and handing them to Horatio. “Use mine.” He snorted when Horatio just blinked. “Go on. Won’t kill you.”

Horatio took the offered toiletries and stepped into the bathroom. “Thank you.”

Gibbs smirked. “Welcome.”

-

Horatio looked at the group of people in the living room of Speed’s apartment with him. “Cameron Russell checked into a hotel yesterday. One of the staff recognized him from the photo that Agent McGee sent out.” He stared at the others.

“Let’s go get him before he checks out.” Gibbs took a step for the door but was stopped by Horatio’s hand on his chest.

“Easy, Tiger.” Horatio flicked his gaze to Gibbs’ eyes. “We need a plan.”

“Yeah?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the other people in the room. “Anybody have one?”

“Send me in.” Tony spoke, standing from where he had been leaning against a wall between Speed and Ziva.

Gibbs blinked. “What?”

“It makes perfect sense, Boss.” Tony put his hands on his hips. “I’ll go in as a decoy for Lieutenant Caine, Ziva does her Houdini thing and shoots the bastard.”

“DiNozzo…” Gibbs started, but stopped his own protest with a sigh. “So, this is your plan?”

“Pretty much. I mean…” Tony shrugged.

“I don’t like it.” Speed crossed his arms. “Too much could go wrong.” Speed’s concern hit Tony like one of Gibbs’ slaps to the head.

Tony frowned a little. “Well, I admit it’s not a _complete_ plan…” He scratched at his head. “But I mean… there’s not really anything McGee could do, technology-wise,” he gestured to where McGee sat on the sofa, “and Horatio can’t go in cause it would blow _my_ cover out of the water… Ziva would be the only one that could see him if he went invisible…”

“You’re disguising yourself… as me?” Horatio cast a dubious look at Tony. “And you think we’re going to fool this guy?”

Tony morphed himself into a duplicate of Horatio and smiled smugly. “I believe we can.”

“That still creeps me out.” Speed mumbled to himself.

Horatio’s lips curled into a smirk. “He’s good.” Gibbs nodded.

“Lemme get this straight.” Speed held up a hand and stared at Tony who was still disguised as Horatio. “You’re going in as Horatio, with an invisible Ziva as back up.”

“Yep.” Tony grinned.

“Oh, we are _so_ screwed.” Speed plopped himself down on a chair.

Tony looked at Speed. “What?” He asked, his trademark puppy face lending a strange twist to Horatio’s features.

“You may look like Horatio, but you don’t act or sound like him.” Gibbs turned to the real Horatio. “May I?” He asked, indicating Horatio’s sunglasses.

Horatio gave a brief nod and handed his sunglasses to Gibbs. “Go ahead.”

Gibbs motioned Tony over and slipped the sunglasses on his face. “Better.” He commented. “But your voice still sounds like you.”

Speed raised his hand. “I’ll go with you.” The rest of the group turned to look at him. “I go to arrest suspects with Horatio all the time; it wouldn’t be out of place. Besides, if he tries to kill us, I won’t die.”

“But what about-” Tony looked between Gibbs and Speed.

“Don’t worry, I can heal you, too.”

Gibbs pointed a finger at Speed. “You do all the talking.”

“Planning on it.” Speed glanced at Tony.

“Alright.” Gibbs cleared his throat. “McGee, you head back to the lab and start getting some surveillance equipment together.”

“On it, Boss.” McGee stood.

“Speedle, DiNozzo, David” Gibbs looked at them each in turn. “I want you to make sure you’re ready to go. That means you’re rested, fed and hydrated.” The three nodded back at him. “I want you back at the lab at eleven hundred. Caine, you’re with me.”

Horatio put his hands on his hips. “Yes, sir.”

Gibbs shot Horatio a look but otherwise ignored the ‘sir.’ “Is everybody clear?” After receiving replies in the affirmative, Gibbs dismissed them and headed back to the hotel in the hummer with Horatio and Ziva, leaving McGee the rental car.

“You coming, Tony?” McGee asked, pausing at the door.

“Nah, you go ahead, Probie. My backup and I need to make sure we’re on the same wave length.” Tony looked at Speed. “Get Speed used to seeing me… not as me… and get me used to being Lieutenant Caine.”

McGee nodded. “See you in a couple hours.” He waved and left to head back to the lab.

Speed circled Tony after McGee had left. “This is still really weird.” Speed commented, taking in how much Tony looked exactly like Horatio.

Tony grinned. “Yeah, innit?”

Speed smirked. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” Tony asked, confusion written across Horatio’s face.

“ _Talk_.” Speed tried to hold back his snicker.

“But-”

“Hearing you voice coming out of my boss is just-” He couldn’t hold it in anymore. It started off as a chuckle but quickly evolved into howls of laughter the more Tony protested. Once he got himself back under control he looked at Tony seriously. “Really. Don’t talk.”

Tony sighed. This was going to be a long day.

-

“You ready for this?” Speed asked Tony a couple hours later as they sat in the Hummer, after getting the call from Gibbs to say he was bringing Ziva out when she was ready. He scrubbed a hand over his face. He still wasn’t quite used to seeing his boss’ face on the man he was falling for. Not that he was used to falling for guys either. Tony nodded. “So, um…” Speed picked at his sleeve as he spotted Gibbs approaching the lab’s main doors from the inside. “Could you change back for just a second?”

Tony raised an eyebrow but complied. “Why-” His question was interrupted by Speed grabbing his head and kissing him hard. Tony kissed back .

“I just…” Speed panted a little when he pulled back. “I couldn’t do that unless you were you…” He played with Tony’s hair for a moment planting a second quicker kiss to his lips. “You should change back again, Gibbs is coming.” Speed climbed over the seats to get behind the wheel as Tony turned himself into Horatio yet again. Tony soon joined him, slipping on Horatio’s sunglasses as he sat in the passenger seat. “Don’t break those.” Speed told him, indicating the sunglasses, as Gibbs approached the vehicle.

Gibbs opened the back passenger side door. “You ready?” He asked, leaning on the frame of the hummer to give Ziva enough room to climb in undetected.

“As we’ll ever be.” Speed glanced over at Tony.

Gibbs felt Ziva touch his wrist lightly as the signal that she was ready to go, forgoing her seatbelt in favor of sitting in the very back of the Hummer. “Alright.” Gibbs pushed away from the vehicle. “You come back safe.” He gave them each a stare before closing the door and walking back inside.

“Ready, Ziva?” Tony asked.

“I am.” Ziva’s voice replied.

“Neither of you get to talk.” Speed shook his head. “I’ll be surprised if this take down doesn’t drive me insane.” He muttered to himself as he started the Hummer and pulled it out onto the street.

They pulled into the parking lot of the hotel just twenty minutes later; though with all the silence it had felt like two hours. They piled out of the Hummer, Ziva slipping out the front passenger side door after Tony so it wouldn’t appear like a door was opening itself. The three were walking toward the lobby when Ziva touched Speed’s hand.

“That is him, yes?” She whispered softly.

Speed turned his head and spotted Cameron Russell leaving his hotel room. “Yeah, that’s him.” He nudged Tony with his elbow, nodding for him to follow his lead. Behind them, Ziva drew her knife just in case things got hairy. Speed and Tony approached Cameron as he opened his trunk. “Cameron Russell?” Speed asked, flashing his badge. “You got time to answer a few questions for us?” Cameron pulled a knife and instantly disappeared. Speed and Tony drew their guns in a hopeless attempt at backup for when Ziva would undoubtedly start attacking. If something went wrong, they’d never be able to see it. They heard a blow land just before Speed cried out and doubled over as blood blossomed over the sleeve of his shirt. “Shit!” There was a grunt next to them and Cameron appeared as he fell to the ground, knife clattering beside him. “Nice work, Ziva.” Speed said softly, clutching at his bicep as Tony picked the knife up between his thumb and index finger. Ziva held the unconscious Cameron down and radioed the squad car that was waiting around the corner.

“We got him.” Tony beamed holding the knife gingerly in order to preserve any prints that might be on the handle.

Speed shot a look at Tony. “Thought I told you not to talk while being my boss.” He tipped his head toward the knife. “Go take care of that.” Tony frowned. “I’ll be okay. Preserve the evidence.”

“Right.” Tony took the knife over to the Hummer and secured it in the proper evidence container with chain of evidence as the squad car pulled into the parking lot to take Cameron away.

“Lieutenant.” One of the officers greeted as he and his partner got out of the car and headed to Cameron. Tony waved hello. Ziva quietly stood and walked back the Hummer, climbing into the back. “Speedle, you okay?” The officer asked.

“Yeah, um, Horatio’ll take me to get it looked at, but I’ll be fine.” Speed replied as he made his way to the Hummer. Tony closed the back of the Hummer. “Let’s go.” Speed climbed into the passenger seat, allowing Tony to get behind the wheel.

“You sure you’re okay?” Tony asked as he morphed back into himself.

Speed inhaled through his teeth. “It smarts like Hell, but I’ve been hurt worse.”

Tony pulled the Hummer onto the street. “Hospital?”

“No, just get me home.” Speed closed his eyes.

Ziva became visible again in the back of the Hummer. “I would like to go back to the lab and report to Gibbs.” She stated, climbing into a seat and securing her seatbelt.

“You got it, Ziva.” Tony drove them to the lab and let Ziva out to take the knife and other evidence to Gibbs. “Hey, Speed, if you see a white light, stay away from it.”

“Not dying, Tony.” Speed grimaced as the Hummer hit a stretch of rough road.

Tony shot worried glances at his passenger the entire drive to Speed’s apartment. “We’re here.” He parked the Hummer and jumped out. Speed winced as he opened the door. Tony helped him out of the Hummer and up to his apartment.

“Need to lie down.” Speed stumbled to the couch, the nausea of healing sending his head spinning.

Tony stood helplessly in the middle of the room. “Anything I can get you?” He asked, desperate for something to do to alleviate the pain he could feel from Speed.

“Water. Clean shirt.” Speed closed his eyes against the swimming colors in his vision. Tony went to Speed’s closet and found a shirt, which he set on the back of the couch for later before getting a glass of water from the kitchen. He brought the beverage back and helped Speed to sit up enough to drink a few sips. Speed unbuttoned his shirt and gingerly pulled it off, fighting off the wave of nausea that reared its head when his sleeve stuck to his wound. “Fuck.” He hissed, peeling the shirt away and handing it to Tony. “Just toss it in the sink.”

Tony did as he was told and returned to sit on the floor by Speed’s head. “Anything else?” He asked, dabbing away the sweat on Speed’s forehead with the cuff of his own sleeve.

“Don’t leave.” Speed mumbled prying his eyes open and focusing on Tony.

“Not gonna leave you, Speed.” Tony helped him drink another few sips of water before pulling the throw blanket off the chair next to him and covering Speed with it, making sure to keep Speed’s injured arm on top of the blanket. He carded his fingers through Speed’s hair as the other man drifted off in to a healing sleep.

-

Ziva was heading to the evidence locker with her box of evidence from the scene when she ran into Gibbs and Horatio.

“Miss David.” Horatio fell in step with her, Gibbs following behind them both.

“Lieutenant.” Ziva nodded a greeting. “The suspect is in custody.” She placed her box of evidence on a table and began cataloguing it.

“Tony?” Gibbs asked, wondering why his Senior Agent wasn’t with them.

“He took Officer Speedle home to recover.” Ziva looked up from her task. “He was stabbed in the arm.” She elaborated. “Our suspect got spooked and turned invisible. He made a move to stab Officer Speedle in the chest, but I knocked him off balance enough for the blow to miss its target.”

“Is Speed okay?” Horatio frowned, rubbing at his temple.

“He was in pain, but he had already begun healing when they dropped me off here.” Ziva turned her gaze to Horatio. “Tony will take care of him.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that.” Gibbs smirked and took a swig of coffee and headed for the door.

“Tony also wished me to return these to you.” Ziva pulled Horatio’s sunglasses out of the box.

Horatio took the sunglasses and slipped them on his face. “Remind me to thank him.” He smiled and followed Gibbs into the hallway. “So, we caught our bad guy.” He stepped in front of Gibbs, raising his eyebrows. “Do I get to go home and change my clothes today?”

Gibbs gave a chuckle and tried to hide his smile behind the action of sipping his coffee. “Yeah. If I go with you and clear everything, I don’t see why not.”

-

Cameron was sitting in the interrogation room staring at the wall when Gibbs and Horatio walked in.

“Cameron Russell.” Horatio set a file down on the desk and placed his sunglasses on top of it. “Or should we call you Cameron Lloyd?”

Cameron’s jaw twitched. “You should go to Hell, is what you should do.”

Gibbs rubbed his thumb over the logo on his coffee cup in hopes of keeping himself relatively calm. “What made you think it was a good idea to go around killing people?” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

“God, none of you _understand_.” Cameron sat up straighter in his chair, his hands pulling a little against the silver cuffs.

Horatio stared down at the man, trying to give him a chance. “Why don’t you help us understand.”

“You’re putting people in danger!” Cameron yelled. “Acting like you’re _one of them_ but you’re _not_!”

“That why you killed your brother?” Gibbs asked through his teeth.

Cameron leaned forward. “He was playing with the fate of our country! The public should know that they’re supposedly ‘being defended’ by monsters who don’t know any better than to not get involved!” He pulled frantically at the cuffs restraining his wrists. “They’re diseased! They just don’t see it!” Horatio raised an eyebrow. “I need to teach them! I-“ Cameron set a deadly gaze on Horatio. “You were next! You think you’re helping people! You need to be neutralized for the good of humanity!”

Before Cameron or Horatio could react, Gibbs was across the room, pinning Cameron to the wall. “No one touches my people!” Gibbs roared, shoving his forearm under Cameron’s chin. It took Horatio and another officer to pull him back so Cameron could breathe. “You have no right to play God with American lives!”

Horatio put a hand to Gibbs’ chest. “Gibbs.” He gently steered Gibbs out of the interrogation room. “Calm down.” He whispered once they were far enough into the hall. “Listen to me… he’s not going anywhere.” He looked up through his eyelashes into Gibbs’ eyes. “Okay? He’s not getting out of this.”

Gibbs watched as the officer pulled Cameron away to take him to sit in lock-up while they arranged transportation. “He better not.”

-

Tony awoke to find he’d fallen asleep sitting on Speed’s floor. He stretched and let out a yawn, scratching at his head.

“Morning, Sunshine.” Speed grinned at the bleary-eyed agent.

Tony grunted and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You’re awfully awake for having been stabbed.”

Speed propped himself up on his elbow. “It was only my arm.” Speed smirked for a moment before a frown took its place. “I guess since we caught the bad guy, you’ll be going home.”

“Yeah, guess so.” Tony leaned his head back against the seat cushion and came face to face with Speed. “Should probably check in with our bosses.”

“Yeah.” Speed pressed a quick kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Lemme grab a shower and we can head in.”

Tony’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “I could use a shower, too.”

“I’m not doing this for the first time in the shower.” Speed protested.

“We could always shower after.” Tony smiled his most charming smile. “Who knows when we’ll see each other again.” He growled when his phone rang and dug it out of his pocket. “Great timing, Boss.” He muttered, reading the display before flipping open the phone. “Yeah, Boss.” Tony greeted.

“Get your stuff, DiNozzo, we’re heading home.”

“But-” Tony pouted and turned puppy eyes at Speed.

“Our charter plane leaves in two hours, DiNozzo.” Gibbs rubbed at his forehead. “I expect you can be there?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there, Boss.” Tony hung up his phone.

“So what’s the verdict?” Speed asked, slipping his hand into Tony’s hair.

Tony leaned into the touch and frowned. “Flight leaves at fifteen hundred.” He dropped his phone into his pocket.

“Charter or public?” Speed planted his feet on the floor and wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders.

Tony rested his head against Speed’s neck. “Charter.”

“Well, then you don’t have to be there until six or six-thirty.” Speed pulled Tony back against his legs. “We’ve got about thirty minutes.”

“Plenty of time for…” Tony’s stomach growled. “Food.” He finished.

Speed chuckled and stood. “I’m going to go clean up and then we can go find something to eat.”

-

Horatio pulled the Hummer onto the tarmac and cut the ignition.

“Gentlemen… and Miss David…”

McGee climbed out of the Hummer. “Thanks for the lift, Lieutenant.” He smiled as the others joined him.

“Not a problem, Agent McGee.” Horatio placated with a quick glance at Gibbs. “Not a problem at all.”

Tony stared at the airplane in front of him. “Well, it’s not a Gulfstream.”

Gibbs smacked the back of Tony’s head. “Don’t be a smartass, DiNozzo.”

“Sorry, Boss.” Tony rubbed at the back of his head and winced. That one had stung.

“Been a pleasure working with you and your team, Gibbs.” Horatio put his hands on his hips.

“Yeah.” Gibbs gave Horatio a small smile. “Yeah, you, too.”

“I just have one question before you go.” Horatio peered at Gibbs over the top of his sunglasses. “When we were interrogating Cameron Russell… you…” He looked at the ground and then back at Gibbs. “You called me ‘your people’…”

Gibbs nodded. “Yeah.” He reached up and carefully slipped the sunglasses from Horatio’s face. “And I protect what’s mine, Horatio.” He took Horatio’s head in his hands, the wings of Horatio’s sunglasses trapped by the web of skin between his thumb and index finger, and kissed him soundly on the lips. They pulled apart to the sound of Tony clapping. The corners of Gibbs’ lips curled up in a smile at the hint of pink that tinted Horatio’s cheeks and ears. “Mine.” He whispered.

Horatio nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Gibbs shook his head. “Not ‘sir.’ Jethro.”

“Jethro…” Horatio repeated, liking the way the name rolled off his tongue.

“Boss?” McGee asked; surprised that his boss, who held firmly to the image of a hard-assed bastard, had just kissed another man.

“Problem, McGee?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow at his agent.

McGee shook his head. “No. Just… not what I expected…”

Tony watched the scene in front of him unfold, when he felt a pair of arms slip around his waist. “Hey.” He smiled when he found the arms were attached to Speed.

Speed gave Tony a quick kiss. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“Don’t plan on it.” Tony tilted his head, one of his famous DiNozzo smiles plastered on his face, and with his best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression declared: “I’ll be back.”

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs called to his Senior Agent. “Flight’s gonna leave without you.”

“Coming, Boss!” Tony winked at Speed before disentangling himself from the other man’s arms. “I’ll see you.” He gave Speed one final kiss before grabbing his duffel and running to catch up with the rest of the team. “You know, Boss. We should really visit Miami more often.” He was rewarded with a headslap as they boarded the chartered plane. “Shutting up, Boss.”

-

It had been just over three months since the trip to Miami. Tony and Gibbs still kept in contact with Speed and Horatio. Horatio had even gotten Gibbs to start using e-mail on a more regular basis, which McGee gave him major credit for being able to do. Speed had endured a flight up from Miami for a visit. Not that he was afraid of flying; he was just a little claustrophobic being cooped up with that many people in such a confined space. The next trip, he made a road trip out of it, and rode his Ducati over two and a half days. Tony and the rest of the team were fairly certain that Horatio had come to visit Gibbs as Gibbs had taken a week off work the previous month. Gibbs never even took sick days.

There was a lull in actual cases and Tony sat in his chair, with his feet propped up on his desk, playing Tetris on his new cell phone. He grinned to himself. He was just ten points away from besting his personal high score. The screen went black.

Tony let out a strangled moan. “No. No, no, no, no.” Tony punched at a variety of button combinations with his thumbs.

A message appeared in plain white letters on the otherwise black screen. ‘QUIT FOOLING AROUND, TONY.’

“McGee!” Tony shouted, holding the phone up for the other agent to see.

“Why don’t you do something that’s actually productive?” McGee didn’t even bat an eye in response and stared at the search that was running on his computer. Ziva just furrowed her eyebrows as she pored over a cold case file.

Tony scowled. “I was ten points away, McCheat!”

“And now you have ten seconds to get back to work, DiNozzo!” Gibbs swept into the squad room. ‘He should really wear a cape when he does that,’ Tony mused. Gibbs sat at his desk just as his cell phone rang. “Yeah. Gibbs.” He answered.

FIN


End file.
